


Partners

by id0ntknwo



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Future Fic, Light Angst, Peraltiago, Rekindling, Triggers, Zombie Apocalypse, lovers to colleagues hahaha, they're both badasses, they're in the army or is it marines??
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2020-11-02 07:15:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20664788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/id0ntknwo/pseuds/id0ntknwo
Summary: they parted ways in a not so ideal way; she was being transferred to a different state to go be an executive officer, he was going to stay because he just got promoted another rank, neither wanted to compromise their personal goals nor did they want to pursue a long distance relationship -- oh, and did i mention they're in the middle of war with zombies?now, it's a year later and they're forced to work together to save humanity.





	1. Chapter 1

"Santiago, in my office now." Lieutenant General Raymond Holt beckoned as he passed by said officer's desk.

"Oooh, someone's in trouble," 2nd Lieutenant Charles Boyle chimed but quickly shut up after she glared at him.

She looked around their office, a little worried, not sure if she'd done something in the past few hours to have warranted a visit to the office of the esteemed leader. The rest of the officers inside their station shrugged.

"It's probably not that bad," Colonel Terry Jeffords assured. "But best not make him wait," he urged.

"Right." Major Amy Santiago stood up, straightened her uniform, making sure she was prim and proper before facing their location commander.

Despite her nerves growing by the second, Amy made her way towards Lt. Gen's office, keeping her posture up and a stoic expression.

It wasn't like like she was expecting anything upon entering the office, but she certainly wasn't expecting to see Field Marshall Madeline Wuntch. On instinct she saluted.

"At ease, Major," Wuntch instructed. "Please do sit down," she gestured at the seat across hers and opposite the Lt. General's.

She could only nod, feeling her throat tighten and the tingling feeling of unease creeping from her tailbone up. Which in her experience only meant some bad news would come her way one way or another. The universe hasn't exactly been kind to her in the past few years.

"Madeline, this is Major Amy Santiago. Santiago, I'm sure you know her," Holt said in a tone that Amy has never quite heard from her superior. It also did not escape her that the Lieutenant General was referring to their commander by her first name while on duty - there was definitely something going on.

"It's an honor to meet you, Field Marshall," she wasn't sure if she should have offered for a hand shake but seeing as the Field Marshall's hands were tucked in her pockets, it didn't seem like an option. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Lt. Gen. Hold smirked (another rare occurrence for her usually composed mentor). "What did I tell you, Madeline. Santiago is what you need. She may be our youngest but she's mature and intelligent. No pretenses - she'll get the job done."

Wuntch gave her a once over.

She couldn't help but swallow the lump on her throat. Though she would admit she's a little proud of how her commanding officer believed in her capabilities.

"I can see that, Raymond. But is she tough? I mean, she can be all what you say but still not be enough to lead-"

Amy was confused, and could not help but speak up. "With all due respect ma'am, I'd be honored to be of any help to the force, but before anything else, I'd like to clarify what exactly are we talking about? Is there a problem?"

Wuntch's eyebrows raised, a smirk on her lips. "Well, Raymond, she certainly is your pupil, seeing as she also has a knack for disrespecting me,"

Oh, God, no. Alarms started going off in her head. "No, um- Field Marshall Wuntch, that's not- I'm sorry- sir, please tell-"

But Wuntch had already stood up, turning to her subordinate. "I'll see both of you at the brief by the end of the week. I highly doubt you'll meet my expectations Major Santiago, but Commissioner Crawford and Director Majors had already elected you for this position and unfortunately we don't have anybody else up for it."

Then Wuntch left.

Amy was not sure what exactly happened, and both of them were quiet for a few seconds.

"Sir, I don't- what just happened?"

Lt. Gen. Holt sighed, shaking his head. This was probably the most agitated she's seen her commander, and that's saying something since Lt. Gen. Holt was usually so composed and stoic. Amy could tell because of how twitchy and how his intake of breath was uneven. She'd grown to recognize most of the tells of her commanding officer in the year that she's been stationed in the city capital.

"Sir-"

"Santiago, I need you to listen to me carefully," Holt finally spoke. "Wuntch wants to see me- us fail. That hag will do everything to make life hell for both of us, but I tell you we will not lose. This is a special task, Santiago. They are arranging a new squad- a task force, if you will."

Amy frowned. "What for, sir?"

"We shouldn't really be discussing this here, but since I don't do so well with following Wuntch's orders I might as well tell you." Holt said, though still cautious. "Intel has been going around the higher ups for a while now, but we might have a lead back in the east."

"Leads on what? And h-how, most of the east have been blocked out and quarantined for the past five years?"

Holt shook his head. "We'll know more about it during the brief this Friday. Keep this down for the meantime, Santiago."

She nodded in understanding. This was definitely a big responsibility for her to shoulder, but she knew she can and had to take this on. Whatever it was still left in the east coast, if Intel says it's valuable, it probably really is.

"I've been told that the brief will also be the first assembly for all the members of this new squad and that you might know some of its members,"

Her heartbeat picked up. She has a bad feeling about this.

"Sergeant Major Diaz told me you were classmates in the Academy, is that correct?"

Amy visibly sighed, not even knowing she was holding her breath. "Uh, yes sir. We, uh- yes. We grew up together and got enlisted together, too."

Holt surveyed her, not in the same way that Wuntch did early on, but it was the kind of look that told her Holt knew something was bothering her. "Is there something you would like to share, Major?"

"No, sir. I-" she sighed. It wouldn't hurt to ask, right? Just for her own sanity. "Would you happen to know who else would be in the squad, sir?"

The commander gave her a look, one that was curious but not enough for him to prod about it, not now at least. Over the year that Amy has been under the tutelage of Lt. General Holt, the two have formed a father-daughter bond and Hold would definitely know right away if his disciple was distracted. But they also respected each other in such a way that neither would open up or ask about personal things, at least not while at work. Maybe over this weekend they can talk about it, when they have that dinner with Holt's husband, Kevin.

"They're getting commissioned officers and enlisted personnel from all across the country so I'm not certain who else could be familiar with you, but you can take Lieutenant Boyle with you and have myself and Colonel Jeffords as advisers. I need to know that you are one hundred percent in this, Amy." that made her sit even more straight, Holt rarely called her by her first name at work - this must truly be serious. That only ignited her determination, she's gotten this far already, she won't let anything stop her from serving the country and helping in every way that she can. There's no time for her to worry about trivial things.

"Can you lead this squad?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Here are some files that you might need before the brief this Friday," Holt slid a folder mark confidential across the table towards her. "This is your copy. I suggest you be discreet when taking this home today. Do as much research and if you have anything questions, don't hesitate to come to me. You're dismissed."

* * *

1st Lieutenant Jake Peralta woke up to the sound of banging pots just outside his quarters. He was quick to his feet, despite not being able to put on his uniform properly, he was still able to get his handgun from his drawer as he crouched behind his bed.

"Jake, dude!"

The 1st Lieutenant groaned at the telltale sound of his subordinate. "What, Jason?" He didn't want to be so harsh towards the Private but Jason did interrupt a pleasant dream of his where none of this chaos was going on and he was living a peaceful life with his own family. Though from the look of things, he doesn't think that'll happen anytime soon, or ever.

He heard more banging sounds- he's not even sure how Jason was making those annoying sounds since he's sure the Private was not even allowed his own gun.

"Captain Dozerman told me to tell you to pack your bags!"

"What?"

"I said- oh hey," the newbie Private waved at him the moment he opened his door. "Yeah, so Captain Dozerman wanted to see you, too."

"Wait, but you said I have to pack my bags. Which do I do first?"

"Yeah, that."

He groaned, resisting the urge to face palm or just flat out slam his head on the door. "Which that?"

"Um... see Captain Dozerman...?" Jason grimaced, trying his hardest to think if he'd forgotten anything else to tell Jake. "Yeah, that. You have to meet Captain Dozerman after you have your breakfast, or was it during breakfast? I kinda forgot, but the Captain still wants to see you. Then you have to pack,"

"Alright," he sighed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Thanks, Jason. Can you please tell Captain Dozerman, I'll be out in 5 minutes."

His subordinate saluted before running out of the quarter barracks.

To Jake's surprise Captain was already waiting for him at the canteen of their barracks. "Sir, you wanted to see me?" he put down his meal tray and saluted.

Dozerman gestured for him to ease and sit down. Which he does right away.

"I'm sending you to Seattle with Private Stentley," Dozerman told him in his usual nonchalant self. Suddenly he's lost his appetite, there was something about this news that just rubbed him the wrong way. "Everything is already taken care of, you'll be under the care of a former colleague of mine. These are direct orders from Field Marshall Wuntch, so you don't have much choice here, Peralta."

He could only nod because like what his captain said, Jake didn't have much say in this.

"Uh, sir, if you don't mind-"

"Yes, I actually do mind, Peralta." Dozerman cut him off and they were silent for a few seconds before his captain started laughing, "Ha! You should have seen your face, Peralta! That was hilarious, I'm so great!"

"Uh, so Captain... why am I being transferred?"

Ever the enthusiastic man, Seth Dozerman slapped the table with his hand. "Excellent question! We don't actually have much information about what is it exactly you will be in Seattle for, but I have been told they're creating a new squad comprised of soldiers from different regions. You might even know some of them, Peralta!"

There it was. That was probably why he didn't feel too good about this. Jake had purposely volunteered to be stationed in Atlanta to be as far away from the Pacific North-West as possible. Though it risked him being close to the east coast border where there were more zombies around, he deemed it would be easier to survive zombie attacks than survive an accidental run in with her. At least when facing the blood and flesh hungry un-dead, he actually knew what to do to ward them off - he had been trained specifically for that purpose. He wasn't trained however in confronting his past, especially the woman whom he once thought was the one he would end up with until his time.

"Peralta!"

He was brought out of his thought when Dozerman finally stood up. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Um..."

Dozerman shook his head. "I said, you'll have to drive up to Seattle with Private Stentley and also pick up Private First Class Jennings in Montana since he'll also be a part of the new squad. You've had him in your squad before, too, right?"

A bit of relief washed over him; maybe his gut was wrong, maybe the person Dozerman was referring to was Jennings. Although having to be in the same car ride with both Jason and Gary was not ideal, Jake would take that any day than having to think of seeing and working with Amy Santiago again.

"You'll leave tomorrow, and hopefully get there by Friday- Saturday if you run into some zombies which you probably will. I'll just advise my associates there that you three might be late for the first brief."

Dozerman was already walking away before he can salute and affirm the command.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things finally get interesting, sort of... you might have seen this coming already

The morning of the brief, Amy felt unusually chipper. She felt really good about all the research she'd done about their new mission, especially with the short time frame that she was given. This'll probably prove Field Marshall Wuntch and all her commanding officers that she's the one for this job.

She arrived at the capital hall of their headquarters an hour early than their assigned meeting because that's just how she is. Luckily for her, Lt. Gen. Holt was also already there, so her worries were a little bit eased.

It was still early for the meeting so they were the first two to be inside the conference room.

You'd think that would be a weird thing to do while they're in the midst of a Zombie apocalypse but after a decade of this whole catastrophe, they'd learned how to deal with it and live somewhat a normal life. The zombies just add a little more cardio in life, really.

Though, Amy still wanted a more normal life, one where she could actually settled down with her own family without all the trouble of having to fend off zombies every now and then. It's not a far off dream, especially if what this mission of her entails holds true. She'd have find a partner to start a family with of course - she did have one before, but that's a long story, something she'd rather not revisit when what she should really be doing is focusing on this mission.

Speaking of the mission, "Sir,"

"Yes, Major?"

"Do we have the list of people who will be a part of the squad?" Amy started as she brought out her laptop and started setting up her presentation.

Silence fell inside the room.

The Major chanced a glance at her commander, who was giving her a curious (yet somehow still stoic) look.

"Sir...?"

There was an air anticipation coming from Amy, she knew Holt was catching on the fact that there is something bothering her about this mission.

"You seem really eager to know more about your squad members, Santiago. I assume this is because you are already adjusting your tactics according to who your squad members will be, correct?"

It took her a brief moment to confirm that to her commander. "Y-yes. That's absolutely what I was thinking," she smiled and showed faux confidence.

"Good. Well, I can tell you that-" Amy held her breath, gripping the remote control for the projector. "I have absolutely no idea who will be in your squad."

"Sir," she groaned.

Holt snorted in amusement. It's one of those rare moments when Lieutenant General Raymond Holt would show just how much their father-daughter relationship had grown over the past year.

"Wait, but you told me Sergeant Major Diaz would be a part of the squad?"

"Nothing is definitive about this squad. We will know who they are once they get here by noon." Holt dismissed the subject, seemingly buying Amy's excuse about wanting to know about the members. Still, though, at the back of her mind, something was bothering her. "You do not need to worry much about this squad, Santiago, Director Majors hand picked a few of them so they will be the best. For now, you just have to focus on this briefing."

* * *

Yeah, they were gonna be late for the brief in Seattle.

Jake thought as the three of them clawed their way through the forest- how is it even possible for these zombies to get smarter as the years progressed, they don't even have brains!?

Or maybe this was their own fault?

Leaving Jason and Gary on their own in the car might have been a poor decision on his part - but can you blame, he really needed to pee, okay?

Either way, they already lost their car so they'll have to find another way to get to Seattle.

Hopefully, they'll get in touch with the nearest base camp soon.

"Jakey! We're not gonna make it," Private Stentley cried.

"Yes, we will, Jason. Just run, okay?" he pivoted off his right foot, aiming his gun right at the nearest zombie closing in on them. There were about a dozen and a half still chasing them. "Gary, do you see any building near by?"

"None yet, Lieutenant. Just some run down houses,"

"Crap. Those are no good!"

"What are we gonna do, Jakey?!"

"Keep running!"

And run they did.

'There's no way, I'm going out like this.' he thought as he pivoted on his right to take out one of the nearer zombies coming at them. There's no point not using his bullets on these dead ass pain in the asses, might as well look cool doing it. He shoots one directly through the eye. He winced, almost sorry for blowing off half a face of someone who used to be a well functioning live person.

It's never really easy to fight zombies - yes, it's a little bit cool; most of the time, when he thinks about it, being in a zombie apocalypse had its high times (which really isn't saying something compared to the normalcy and safety of a world not infested with mindless flesh eating assholes). Pretending that it's all part of a movie isn't that much help or healthy either, but again, it makes him think and see things in a cooler that way.

Amy once told him, he shouldn't be so reckless as to think that this whole situation was just a movie, but come on he's got an imaginative mind can you really blame him if there was even the slightest chance to use any of John McClane's iconic one liners?

But this really wasn't the time to think about that.

"Lieutenant, I think we have even more company," Gary shouted.

True enough approaching ahead of them was a military jeep; it looks a little beat down, but nonetheless, it was a saving grace that Jake is grateful for. Driving the jeep was a man with curly shaggy hair, fully bearded with wide crazed eyes. Even a quarter mile away, Jake can hear the faint scream that the man was letting out.

"Better than nothing," he muttered, flailing his arm to catch the driver's attention.

The jeep stopped right in front of them. "Any of you, Lieutenant Peralta?"

"That's me,"

The man smiled. "Nice, get in. Staff Sergeant Adrian Pimento, I was told to look out for you guys."

"Thank you, that really- whoa, whoa, what are you doing?" His eyes grew wide as Adrian sped past them, evidently throwing his two subordinates backwards, before any of them can climb up the jeep. "Staff Sergeant, what-"

"Hold on Lieutenant, I'll take care of these ding-dongs for you!" Pimento screamed.

And in what, Jake can only describe as a mad man's work, the jeep bulldozed through the dozen zombies that were chasing them, before Pimento took a sharp turn and drove back to them.

"Alright, now that that's taken cared of, let's go!"

"Lieutenant, I think we might still die today," Gary murmured, eyes wide in fear.

"Shh, he might be our best shot to getting to Seattle, Gary." Jake said as the three of them finally climbed up into the vehicle. "While I do admit that that was reckless, that was also pretty cool! I'm both equally scared and impressed of you, Staff Sergeant,"

"Thank you!" the Staff Sergeant answered.

* * *

The brief went pretty well, if Amy did an honest assessment of the events of the day. Even Field Marshal Wuntch, Commissioner Crawford and Director Majors were all impressed at her presentation of how to tackle the new task for to be sent to the east coast. Not to toot her own horn, but being able to make a 35 slide coherent presentation about all the possible suspects for this wild spread of disease (and yes, it wasn't just a conspiracy; someone was behind this outbreak), also include a tactic to draw those people out, and coordinate how they would help in making the cure for the outbreak that started to devour the east coast within a 3 day time frame with the limited information given to them by Intel, was - well, not many people can do that.

"You truly are a brilliant sicko," Sergeant Major Rosa Diaz smirked as she approached Amy right after the briefing. "Only you can manage to stretch that whole thing out like it's a Scorsese film,"

"Thanks, I guess," Amy chuckled, giving her long time friend a hug. "I'm so glad you're here, Rosa!"

"Well, when I first heard from my Captain that you'll be leading this task force, I knew I had to be a part of it. Plus it was getting a little boring fending off local zombies in Chicago,"

"I missed you, too, Rosa."

"Yeah, yeah, you know that already. What I want to know is if you already know who else would be a part of this squad,"

At that, 1st Lieutenant Boyle immediately made his way to them. "My ears are tingling, are we talking about drafting?"

"What, Charles?"

If looks could really kill, 1st Lieutenant Boyle would have dropped dead right then and there because Rosa was glaring daggers at him.

"Sergeant Major Diaz, this is 1st Lieutenant Charles Boyle; he's really eager but he's no harm, Rosa." Amy explained, knowing well enough her childhood friend would verbally decimate Charles without anymore prompt.

"Hi, nice to meet you." Charles offered a hand. "Looking forward to working with you, Rosa. By the way, what's your favorite food? I make a great sour dough bread that we can all share for-"

"Okayyy, that's great to hear, Charles," Amy cut him off. "Anyway, unfortunately General Holt wouldn't tell me anything else about all my other troop members. So far, it's just you, Lieutenant Charles, Private Fogle from Arizona, and then Corporal Vargas from Michigan."

"Sick, Lou is now a Corporal?! Good for him," Rosa commented before she cautiously proceeded, "So, that's it? You haven't heard of anybody else..."

Amy frowned, there's that gut feeling again. "No... why, do you have any idea about who else would be a part of the squad?"

Her childhood friend gave her an uncertain look, something Rosa rarely does. "It's just a rumor among the recruitment, but I heard that the one Lieutenant left and two privates would be somewhere from the southeast... it was just hear say, but I also did see his name in the shortlist from my Captain when I first signed up for this squad."

Even without mentioning a name, Amy knew who Rosa was referring about. She wanted it to be a prank or for all of this to be just a horribly weird nightmare, but the worried look Rosa gave her indicated that this was real life and there was a big chance that he will be part of the new squad.

With his track record, it wouldn't be too far off for him to be requested as part of the roster. Last she heard, about nine months ago, he was already the 2nd Lieutenant in his troop. And Boyle was already the 1st Lieutenant of their new squad, so he fit right in to complete the squad. A part of her dreaded that thought, almost resented it; a part of her was also somewhat proud of his rise in the rank because she knew it was one of the things he wanted the most. At a time of crisis that they were in, rising to the ranks didn't take as long as it used to, but it did take much more responsibility to be promoted as well. It required composure, especially under pressure - and she knows well enough he's up for the task of being a 2nd Lieutenant.

"Amy?"

"It's fine..." she shrugged off. "You know, we were bound to work together at some point again. It's totally fine. It's not going to be a problem at all."

But judging by the unimpressed look Rosa was giving her, Amy knew this was going to be a tough order to complete.

"Oh, who are we talking about?" Charles chimed in again.

This was going to be a more difficult task than she anticipated.

* * *

The four of them arrived in Seattle early Saturday morning, literally way too early.

The last thing Jake expected was to be greeted all together by Director Majors, Commissioner Crawford, Field Marshall Wuntch, and another General he's not too sure he knew. This new mission must be really important for their superior officers to be there. He'd already asked Pimento if he knew anything of their new mission, but the Staff Sergeant really didn't give him any insights - he was starting to think that this new squad the Forces were building was just a ruse or something because so far as he had observed the people he traveled with to Seattle were more like liabilities than anything.

Jake just hopes he'll survive whatever this was.

"Lieutenant, we're glad you could make it," Director Majors offered a hand.

He gladly shook it before saluting to his superiors. "Took some time, but we're here."

"We'll let's get right in to it," Field Marshall Wuntch said, leading them through to the briefing room.

All four of the new squad members were tired, and really just wanted to rest up for a little, but it's not like any of them can really contradict their bosses.

'_Whatever, I'll probably just sleep through this..._' Jake thought. '_Jennings will surely take notes,_'

That was the plan.

A plan that crumbled way too quickly when he stepped foot inside the briefing room, because standing right in front, with her hair tied hastily into a ponytail, and in army shirt and cargo pants - _she was definitely called in last minute, _he thought - his ex, the one and only Amy Santiago.

If she was surprised at his presence she didn't show it.

And Jake was somewhat relieved that neither of them had any violent reactions to seeing each other again. Well, it's not like he expected either of them to rejoice or anything, but this was surely far better than the last time they saw each other with all the screaming and shouting and crying.

It also looked like no one else was going to address the matter, that or none of the other people in the room was aware of their past. Honestly, Jake wasn't sure which one he preferred.

"Major Santiago, meet your latest recruits." the General started, gesturing at each one of them.

Up until then, Amy had not made any eye contact with him, but he knew she knew he was there. They just had that kind of spatial awareness with each other, even after a year later.

She just nodded with acknowledgement to each of them.

Jake wanted to just bolt right out of there, but he couldn't stop staring at her.

This was going to be a long hour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i swear it will get more interesting and more action-y in the next coming chapters. just trying set things up properly and get most of the character introduction out of the way, we still got some appearances further into the story don't worry.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> holt is on to something, and jake builds on a new friendship

He was wrong. It wasn't an hour long.

That briefing was definitely longer than an hour. Jake really should have expected nothing less from Amy Santiago. Of course, she had all the necessary information about the whole ordeal, no doubt that she was more than ready to take on this mission.

He was impressed, not that that was anything new - what was new was his hesitance to react to anything she was saying. It felt like whatever he would do, something bad would come out of it. So he kept silent throughout the whole brief. Which truly was torture.

She caught his eyes a couple times during the brief, and every time there would be a flicker of emotion going through her - it was only a split second, but Jake was still so accustomed to everything Amy related that he knew she knew he saw it.

For the most part, though, Amy ignored him.

"That concludes out meeting for the day," the Lt. General Holt announced (he had learned that he was Amy's head officer here in Seattle), and Jake was more than happy to get out of there. But the older man had other plans. "Lieutenant Peralta, please stay for a while, we need to discuss your living arrangements while you are here."

"Ah, yes, General Holt, that's very kind of you. Thank you, I will take whatever quarters the office can give me," he quickly answered, looking anywhere but at his superior, who stood next to Amy cleaning up her materials.

"Are you certain, Lieutenant?" Holt frowned, confused by his fidgety action.

"Well..." he squirmed on his toes, "Ideally, it should be somewhere near the HQ, but we can't really be too choosy can we?"

"If that's the case, I can have someone accompany you to look for better places. Perhaps Major Santiago can-"

"No!" he quickly answered.

A top his voice was also the sound of a laptop screen slamming way too hard than it should. Amy was tense, she had stopped cleaning up her things once the Lt. General had mentioned her name.

"Is there a problem, Lieutenant?" Hold questioned.

Jake struggled for an excuse. "N-no sir... It's just that- Major Santiago must be r-really busy," he sputtered out, scratching the back of his head. "You know, with h-heading this squad and all. I-I think, we can manage with what HQ will give us."

Their eyes finally locked at that moment - longest 5 seconds of his life, if you ask him - but he knew they were thinking of the same thing: getting out to this situation.

"Uh, sir..." Amy finally spoke, turning to their superior. "I do have to... organize all the other, uh... meetings we will have for the committee once everything is approved and, uh you know, preparing for the mission..." she finished with feigned confidence, hoping that this time Holt won't see right through her. To her luck, Jake was there to back up her excuse.

"Yes! That's right, Lt. General, I know Amy is like super meticulous about her plans, so I wouldn't really want to intrude with that." his eyes went wide at the slip up, but pretended that it did not bother him.

The Lt. General caught up on that though. "Oh, so you're actually familiar with Major Santiago?"

Jake shrugged, throwing caution through the window. It's not like he has anything else to lose at this point. "We used to be... colleagues, sir." was his clipped answer.

"It was brief stint, sir." Amy added.

"Oh, that's good to know, at least we know you two won't have any problems working along side each other."

"I really wouldn't count on it," he whispered. And he can tell Amy was also holding herself back for any kind of comment.

Amy saw the curious, questioning look their superior briefly shot at her though. Which only mean that she has a lot of explaining to do by their next dinner. This really wasn't going to be easy.

"Alright, then for now, you can settle in the quarters that the main office assigned you for, but in the next coming weeks before this mission is in full action, maybe we can have you and the rest of the new comers to find a permanent apartment to reside in."

"That sounds nice, Lt. General, thank you for your kindness,"

* * *

She slumped into the couch with an exasperated groan. She just wanted to ground to swallow her.

"That bad, huh?" Rosa asked, from the kitchen, a mug of coffee at hand.

They decided that being roommates for the meantime that Rosa was in Seattle would be the best for both of them.

"You have no idea, Rosa. It was unbearable and embarrassing! My goodness, even Lt. General Holt noticed there was something odd about our encounter- and he had the nerve to admit that we used to work! Why did he have to bring that up?!"

"Okay whoa, don't tear your hair out, Santiago."

"This is going to be a nightmare, Rosa." she complained. Look, Amy isn't really one to complain about most things, especially when it involved her job, but some lines need to be drawn when it comes to work environment so she never really imagined, in the first place, that she'd be working with an ex (because dating a co-soldier was really not in her list when she signed up to be a part of the army, and two, when she got together with Jake, she never thought that they'd ever break up), this was something that she was not prepared for.

"No, it's not." Rosa firmly told her. "So, Jake's part of the squad, you've worked with him before. Even way before you two started dating, so handle it the same way. Plus this is your squad, Amy, don't let him being a part of the squad ruin your experience of heading it. Come on, isn't this what you've always wanted?"

That brought on a different light to her task. Rosa was right, this was still her squad - she was in charge and having an ex-boyfriend be a part of it should not hinder her from leading it the way that she can!

"You're right!"

"Of course, I am. I'm always right,"

"This mission is going to be a success!" she hyped herself up. "We're going to rescue everyone left in the east coast and figure out who really is behind all these!"

Rosa smiled, amused at her childhood friend. Amy had always been a force to be reckoned with; she was always driven by her will to do good and help others, and to finally see her lead her own task force and make a difference in this world, made Rosa proud, she's seen first hand how hard Amy works and she will definitely help in all ways that she could to see her succeed, even if it meant ridiculing a friend like Jake a little bit (she knows Jake won't take it personally anyway, because Jake knows as well that Amy deserves this).

Amy continued to hype herself up, talking about her future plans in executing this mission, but was cut short when the radio inter-comm she had started receiving a message. Ever since the outbreak, means of communication has been challenged once more as towers are now being ransacked by mindless walkers and maintenance on the satellites has been harder than usual.

"It's Holt," she checked where the signal is coming from, "There must be some updates on the mission,"

"Hurry up and answer it then."

She picked up the transceiver, "Major Santiago reporting, sir. Do we have any updates?"

"Yes, there will be another briefing tomorrow; everyone will be there, please prepare another presentation about the next actions you're planning to do, so that we can coordinate with the treasury department and the main office about how to budget the whole mission. We also have updates on the list of potential suspects that have been holding off the supplies back in the east- I'll send them over to you later, so you can do you advance research,"

"Copy that, sir. Will do that right away,"

Holt cleared his throat. "Major..."

Amy felt a pit in her stomach start to grow. That tone certainly did not sound good. "Y-yes, sir?"

"Today's briefing was... interesting, to say the least."

Rosa fought the urge to laugh, seeing as how much her friend was basically popping her eyes out.

"O-oh, uh... I'm not- what do you mean, sir?"

"Lieutenant Peralta... he's quite a character, isn't he?"

Upon hearing his name, Amy tensed up. It was inevitable for him to be discussed with her mentor especially after the fact that they knew each other has been revealed, but she thought she'd at least have a few more days before her weekly dinner with Holt and Kevin before this would happen.

"Yeah... he's um, something..."

"Amy..."

There it was again. She knew this time she wasn't talking to Lieutenant General Raymond Holt anymore, she was talking to Ray - her mentor and father figure, a friend.

"Sir, we should- um, I really need to work on that new presentation," she meekly excused. She's not ready for any kind of discussion about Jake. She had more important things to worry about in the mean time.

"Right, right. Sure, but we are still on for this weekend, correct? You don't have any future plans with, say, the Lieutenants or any of the Sergeants?"

This time Rosa choked up her laughter.

Holt was definitely on to her.

"N-no, sir. I mean, Lieutenant Boyle has invited Rosa and I to dinner at his house because it's his son's birthday for tomorrow, so I'll definitely be there for dinner. Actually sir, I know this is a little last minute, but would you mind if I tagged Rosa along as well?"

Her friend gave her a look but she just grinned.

"Of course not, Kevin would probably be overjoyed that someone else would be joining us... would it just be Rosa?"

The scowl on Rosa's face turned into amusement once more as a snort finally escaped her. Holt was definitely on a streak. And Rosa was enjoying this way too much. She had to put an end to this.

"Nope, just Rosa. Alright, we'll see you tomorrow, sir. Bye,"

She dropped the call even before her superior could answer back "You're coming with me for both of those."

"Alright,"

She thought there'd be more resistance from Rosa, but it seemed that her friend had taken pity on her about this whole situation (that or she just wanted more excuse to see Holt allude to something about her and Jake).

* * *

To say that Jake was surprised upon facing with 2nd Lieutenant Boyle at his door step early that morning was an understatement.

"Uh... Lieutenant, what's up?"

"Lieutenant Jake, hi! Such a pleasure to work alongside you," Charles smiled. "And as a fellow Lieutenant, I'd like to volunteer to show you around- you know built like a great rapport between us. I know Amy would want for us to get along as well so it's easier to handle the whole squad."

"Oh... d-did Am-er, Major Santiago send you here?" he quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, not really," the 2nd Lieutenant replied. "See, it's my son's 9th birthday tomorrow. I know we barely know each other, but the whole squad's gonna be there, I thought it might be best to invite you guys as well so that we can get to know each other better."

He frowned this time. "Why are you having a birthday party for your son in the middle of the zombie apocalypse?"

Charles laughed, nodding his head. "Yeah, I know crazy, right? But with all that's been going on, we wanted Nikolaj to experience at least some kind of normalcy in his life. It's really just a little get together, you don't even have to bring gifts or anything. Just having other people around is enough for him."

Jake felt a surge of emotion in his gut. It's a feeling he's not familiar with, and honestly he didn't want to know what it's all about any time soon, but it did made him agree to coming to said party. It's not like he has something to lose by going to the party anyway.

"Yeah, sure I'll be there. Thanks for the invite, by the way, I really appreciate it."

**Author's Note:**

> exposition, exposition, and exposition oops hahaha. just a little teaser of what's to come really. still your feedback is very much welcome and appreciated.  
also i'm not sure yet but warnings may change further into the fic.


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